Ecuador: Stop criminalizing environmental defenders!
In Ecuador, bank accounts are being frozen without evidence, hearings, or due process. Environmental groups and individuals are left unable to pay salaries, buy food, or see a doctor. Behind the legal smoke screen is a blunt message: Anyone who stands in the way of mining or the oil industry is a target.
To: the Ecuadorian state and its authorities, the government of Ecuador, and President Daniel Noboa
“Put an immediate end to state persecution of people and organizations defending the environment and human rights”For months, Ecuadorian authorities have frozen the bank accounts of organizations and individuals without presenting concrete evidence or granting them the right to defend themselves. They cite alleged “intelligence reports” and accusations such as “unlawful private enrichment,” “support for illegal mining,” or supposed “state terrorism.”
The consequences for those affected are severe. They cannot pay salaries, must suspend ongoing projects and activities, and cannot cover grocery bills or doctor’s visits. Many also face criminal charges and imprisonment.
Human rights lawyers have described this as clear political persecution and criticized the lack of transparency. The procedure does not comply with the law or with due process.
Freezing funds requires objective, verifiable information pointing to suspicious transactions. In addition, only individual sums may be blocked, not entire bank accounts. There is also a maximum period of eight days, during which a judge must confirm, amend, or lift the measure.
Behind this state-organized persecution lies the policy of President Daniel Noboa’s government. Its aim is to exploit the country’s resources in order to fill state coffers and stimulate the economy.
In October 2025, the government issued a decree that prohibits environmental organizations from “directly or indirectly participating in activities aimed at obstructing or disrupting legally approved mining projects.”
This puts anyone in Ecuador who speaks out against mining, oil extraction, or the plundering of nature at risk of persecution.
Please sign the petition.
Start of petition: 17/04/2026
Further information:
- Mongabay, 9-2025: Ecuador: líderes indígenas y organizaciones ambientales denuncian bloqueo del Gobierno a sus cuentas bancarias
- Human Rights Watch, 12-2025: Gobierno congela cuentas bancarias de organizaciones
- PlanV, 10-2025: Política - Bloqueo de cuentas bancarias: organizaciones y activistas afirman que no tienen acceso a información
To: the Ecuadorian state and its authorities, the government of Ecuador, and President Daniel Noboa
Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Mr. President,
We, the signatories of this petition – citizens from around the world committed to defending human rights, democracy, and nature – express our deep concern over the persecution, criminalization, stigmatization, and harassment of organizations and individuals working to defend human rights and protect the environment in Ecuador.
We call on the Ecuadorian state to immediately end all measures aimed at intimidating, weakening, or punishing those who are lawfully standing up for compliance with the law and for the protection of territories and nature.
The situation in Ecuador is particularly grave because the state is also disregarding the sovereign will expressed by the Ecuadorian people in the Yasuní referendum. It is not only those who defend rights and nature who are being targeted. A democratic decision is also being ignored – one that must be respected and implemented.
The Ecuadorian state must guarantee public participation, peaceful protest, and the work of organizations and human rights defenders, while strictly respecting the rule of law, justice, and the constitutional order.
End the persecution, respect the popular will on Yasuní, and uphold the constitution, because these are indispensable democratic and legal obligations.
Yours faithfully,
Decree No. 191, issued by President Daniel Noboa in October 2025, contains the implementing provisions for the “Law on Social Transparency (Foundation Law),” which the government says is intended to “prevent” or “uncover” possible “illegal financial flows” involving nongovernmental organizations such as foundations and associations.
Article 4 of the law’s implementing regulations states: “Social organizations may neither directly nor indirectly invest in activities aimed at obstructing or disrupting legally approved mining projects.”
Government of the Republic of Ecuador, October 28, 2025. Decreto 191, Reglamento de la Ley de Transparencia Social, expide personería jurídica para las Organizaciones No Gubernamentales Extranjera